


Like A Normal Family

by Westgate (Harkpad)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Laura Needs a Hug, Medical Inaccuracies, typical mission violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 19:19:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4071559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harkpad/pseuds/Westgate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She opens the file and there’s a small photo of her, but her last name is wrong. Laura Clifton, it reads. "What's this?" she asks. Clint sits down next to her with a glass of his own and leans into her shoulder to read the file. </p>
<p>"Laura Clifton sounds weird," Clint says, looking over at her with a wink. </p>
<p>"It's your SHIELD cover," Nick explains. </p>
<p>Or: She knows she needs a cover if she ever wants to see him if he's hurt, but when she actually has to use it, it's tougher than she imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like A Normal Family

**Author's Note:**

> Because I'm apparently here to flood the Clint/Laura tags...
> 
> Thanks to altheterrible for a helpful beta read (changes were made post-beta, so lay the blame at my feet). (also, check Al's Clint fic out if you need a good cry. It's awesome like that.)

 

Nick sits at their kitchen table, surrounded by still-unpacked boxes, and lays a file in front of her. Clint, in jeans and a brown Creedence t-shirt, sets a glass of iced tea in front of both them. Nick's wearing jeans, too, but a dress shirt instead of t-shirt, and he looks serious enough that she feels like he's definitely being Clint's boss right now. He’d helped them unload the moving van yesterday, played some poker with them, spent the night in a spare room.

He’d felt like a friend.

Not today.

She opens the file and there’s a small photo of her, but her last name is wrong. Laura Clifton, it reads. "What's this?" she asks, and takes a sip of her tea. Clint sits down next to her with a glass of his own and leans into her shoulder to read the file.

"Laura Clifton just sounds weird," Clint says, looking over at her with a wink.

"It's your SHIELD cover," Nick explains. He takes a drink of tea and smiles.

SHIELD cover - that sounds so strange in her ears. She didn't sign on to be a secret agent; she is a freelance web designer, and they don't need covers. She looks over at Clint, and he is watching her carefully. She knows he's worried. She thinks he expects her to stop and say she can't do this. She can't be married to a federal agent. She doesn’t say those things. She can do this because she's never loved anyone the way she loves Clint Barton. She grew up thinking that love was stupid and only caused pain, and then he wandered aimlessly into her life and nestled himself into her heart. He's the best person she's ever met and she'll do anything it takes to make him happy, including adopting a cover identity, as it turns out.

She sifts to the next page of documents and frowns. "Medical proxy forms. I have to sign these as his sister?" She knows she can't be part of his SHIELD life as his wife. He and Nick both insisted on keeping her 'off books.'

Nick nods. "If he gets hurt and you want to see him at headquarters, you can't come in as his wife. You're his sister." Nick isn't hiding his smile very well. They've known him now for a few months, as he's walked them through the recruiting and training process at SHIELD. She likes how delighted he seems at Clint's success in the program, and she feels like she's known him for a lot longer than a few months. She knows when he's getting a kick out of something, but all she can see is the seriousness of this whole situation.

"I can make the relevant decisions, too?" She says softly, looking at Clint. He's staring at the grain of the wood in the table. They want a normal life. They want a house and a family and a way to build memories together, a way to cover the crappy family memories from their pasts. She'd had to spend night after night assuring him he'd be a good father, not like the asshole who raised him. She could still hear Clint whisper in the darkness of their apartment bedroom, 'I was glad when he wrapped himself around that goddamned tree.'

Then he’d spent night after night convincing her that she deserved to be happy, that she wasn't the disappointment her own parents labeled her every time they saw her. Now she looked around the beautiful old farm house they'd found with each other, the boxes sitting on the floor, the sweat-soaked t-shirt Clint was wearing after hauling things around all morning. Normal life, as much as a covert agent could ever have.

"Yes," Nick says gently. "You're his medical proxy and he's yours. Your fake identity will hold up in a court of law, I guarantee it."

She picks up a pen, looks at Clint and sees him nod slightly, and signs the paper as Laura Clifton. As far as SHIELD is concerned, she is Laura Clifton and she is Clint Barton's sister.

It's two years before those forms really mean anything, and Nick's voice on the end of the phone line is soft and careful when he calls at one in the morning. "Laura, I'm sending Natasha out to pick you and Cooper up. Pack a bag and she'll bring you to headquarters. She’s going to take Cooper to her place, and she and Phil will take turns watching him."

Her heart races and she can't help it that her palms start to sweat. "Nick?" she asks.

"It's bad, Laura. They're flying him in now. Phil's with him and says he was caught in an explosion. Natasha's en route and should be to you within half an hour."

She swallows her fear, but adrenaline courses through her veins as she pulls her suitcase from the closet shelf. She packs for a week, figures she can come back to grab things if she needs to, and gathers Cooper's things as quickly as she can before she wakes him. She's putting his pajamas in the suitcase when she stops and hugs herself tightly.

'Be good for your mama, little dude,' Clint had said as he tossed Cooper in the air with his go-bag at his feet a few days earlier. 'I'll be back to take you for tractor rides in no time.’ Cooper had giggled and clapped before he threw his tiny arms around Clint's neck and squeezed tight. Clint had closed his eyes and held him for a long minute before setting him down carefully, pressing a kiss to his cheek and another to Laura's lips, and leaving.

It had been two years with SHIELD and sure, Clint had broken his wrist once and had spent two weeks on the couch recovering from a bout of pneumonia thanks to a mission, and he'd limped around occasionally with sprained ankles and bruised ribs, but she'd never been called in. She’d pushed the file with her fake ID into the back of her head. She always carried the counterfeit driver's license with her in her purse, but she'd almost forgotten about it.

She finishes throwing clothes into the suitcase and carries it downstairs, where she sets it near the door and leans back against it, trying to tell herself to breathe.

Now there is a knock on her front door and Natasha steps through. She's dressed in jeans and a red cable knit sweater and has a solemn look on her face. She pulls Laura into a silent hug, holds it long, which sends more fear threading through Laura's chest, and then steps back. "Where's Cooper?"

Laura pulls him from his crib and bundles his coat on. He hardly wakes up as they buckle him into a car seat and pull away from the farm. Laura watches the shadows on the edge of the road and wonders what life as a single mother might be like. She just can't picture their house without Clint's energy.

He's like a sunbeam sometimes, all smiles and projects and always moving. He treasures Saturday morning cartoons with Cooper like he's a toddler himself, and he's been known to lay on the couch those days for hours, bouncing Cooper on his lap or laying on the floor absently playing with Cooper and his baby toys while watching a ball game, but if he's up, he's always moving. The energy he pours into their house is palpable to Laura, and motivating. The house will be so still if he doesn't come home.

An hour later, Natasha pulls up in front of SHIELD headquarters.

"Phil's in the lobby. He'll take you up. I'll take Coop to my place. I've got everything covered, okay?"

There are three people at SHIELD who know about her: Nick, Natasha, and Phil Coulson. Laura trusts all of them. She looks back at Cooper, who is sleeping in his car seat and then over at Natasha.

She leans over and gives Laura a quick kiss on the cheek. "Go, watch out for him for me. Phil and I will trade off with Cooper, okay? I'll see you in the morning."

Laura nods and climbs out of the car. She takes a deep breath and heads into the lobby. Phil looks terrible. He's got smudge marks on his cheek, his suit coat is ripped at the elbow, and he's limping. When he sees her she knows it's bad because his eyes are filled with fear, and if there's one thing Laura knows about the three people at SHIELD she trusts, it's that fear doesn't come easy to their eyes.

She swallows hard and walks up and takes his outstretched hand.

"He's in surgery, okay?" Phil says, and leads her to an elevator. "Third degree burns, and he was knocked unconscious from the blast. He hasn't woken since."

The fear starts to snake through her chest. This is real and Clint may be dying.

Phil guides her off of the elevator, presses her to show the security her ID badge, and then leads her through a set of double doors into the lobby for SHIELD medical. They sit down on a couch and Phil puts a hand on her knee.

"Laura," he says, and there's something in his voice she's never heard before. "I -" his voice breaks and he looks away. "I couldn't protect him. I couldn't get to him in time to get him out of the building. I tried," he says, and ends on a whisper.

She remembers the night Clint told her about Phil Coulson. He'd stood in their kitchen with his arms crossed tightly across his chest and said, "I've never worked with anyone like him. I trust him just as much as I trust Natasha and Nick. He'd protect you with his life and he's never met you." When she met him in person a few weeks later, she felt safer knowing that he was on Clint's team. She looked in Phil Coulson's eyes and saw dependability defined.

She leans against him now and puts her head on his shoulder. "I know," she says. "I know you'll always try and get him out." She feels him sigh and then they're quiet. Nick comes down after a while and sits down next to her without a word.

It's probably two hours before a tired-looking doctor comes into the room and approaches. All three of them stand, and Laura holds her breath, tries to read the news on the doctor's face, but she's obviously practiced and is very neutral.

The doctor sighs and looks at Laura. "He's suffered third degree burns on his waist and legs, and he's got a concussion and three broken ribs. He's stable," she says, and Laura has to work to keep her knees from buckling. "He's still critical, though," she adds quickly. "This is serious trauma and until he's conscious again we won't know the full extent of the damage. We're taking him for a CT scan and then we'll get him settled in a room where you can see him."

Laura’s suddenly sitting, her arms clenched around her torso tightly, and tears fill her eyes. She's not going to let them fall, though. She's never been to SHIELD before and she's not going to sit here and cry when he's not dead. So she wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath and looks over at Nick, who is watching her with concern written all over his face.

"He is one tough bastard," Nick says.

"That's an understatement," Phil says, running a hand down his face. "I have a few stories." He looks at Laura. "You are aware that he jumps off of buildings, right?"

She shrugs and remembers just a few weeks ago. "You're aware he practices that on the weekends?"

Phil laughs and shakes his head. "Doesn't surprise me at all. He added it to the new recruit training program he helped us design not too long ago. Said it was vital."

The banter feels good, and the tears dry up. Phil offers to go get them all coffee, and they chat about Cooper and the house for a while, filling the time so the worry stays at a low-level hum in her chest. Phil keeps Natasha updated, and after about an hour, the doctor comes out to get them.  

Laura follows her down a long hallway and into a room, and she realizes that she's never seen him lying in a hospital bed, pale and drawn, with his hair matted to his head and dark circles under his eyes. It doesn't even look like him. Her Clint is energy and light.

She moves to his side and picks up his limp hand in hers and tries to stay calm.

"Laura?" Phil says, and moves close. "This is a new experience, isn’t it? He asks, and she turns to him because he either read her mind or it's written all over her face.

She doesn't trust her voice like this, so she just shakes her head and looks back at Clint. Nick leans close and rubs her back a little, and she's grateful to have them both next to her.

"Remember," Phil says softly, "He's a tough bastard, okay?"

She nods, looks down at Clint's hand, and keeps rubbing. Nick pushes a chair close for her, and she sits. Natasha texts her after a while, and lets her know that Cooper is still sleeping, hardly woke up to transition to the pack-n-play, and to try and rest while she sits with Clint. Phil just keeps bringing her water and coffee - he insists that she alternates, and Clint just keeps sleeping.

She dozes in the chair until Phil leaves to go relieve Natasha, and then she rouses to give him as many tips to handling a two year-old as she can. He insists he has nieces and nephews and will be fine. Nick has to leave for a meeting, so she's alone with Clint now. She leans over and brushes the hair out of his face and rests her hand on his pallid cheek for a moment before she sits back and takes a shuddering breath. She can't hold the tears in this time, and they stream down her face as she whispers stupid pleas for him to wake up.

When Natasha walks in, Laura is wiping the tears from her face.

"Hey," Natasha says, "You don't have to stop, you know. The first time I saw him knocked out on an op I wanted to shoot someone." She paused and added, "I had my gun out and everything. Phil stopped me."

Laura can't help laughing at the image, and she ducks her head at the conflicting tears and laughter. Laughter wins out until Clint squeezes her hand and his monitor spikes. His eyes are half-lidded and sweat pops out on his forehead as she and Natasha both lean over him.

He says, "You guys laughin' at me?"

Relief floods through her at the sound of his gravelly voice, and she presses his hand to her lips and kisses it. She can't say anything, though, because the tears are streaming again.

Natasha says, "Always laughing at you when we get the chance, Barton," and wraps her arm around Laura’s waist. She leans over and says, "Give him a proper kiss while I hold the doctor off for twenty seconds," and she heads out to the hall.

She wants to kiss him, she really does, but there's something about this moment that has fear flooding through her, that makes her feel like she's standing on a high dive but the pool below is empty, like if this is reality for them? Maybe she can't really handle it. Two years ago, Nick suggested she join an online support group for spouses of people with violent jobs, but Laura had brushed it off. Now, standing here, she thinks maybe she should've at least tried. She sucks in a haggard breath as his mouth turns down in confusion.

"Laura?" he whispers, and he can read her uncertainty, even concussed and burned and who knew what else.

He can read her, he loves her, and she needs to get over this _right now_. She leans over and presses a kiss to his chapped lips, just rests her lips on his to savor the contact, the closeness, his light breath against her lips that reminds her that he made it. She can be upset and she can reconsider things later if she needs to, but right now his breath is on her lips and he needs her.

She pulls back and brushes her hand down his cheek again, and smiles. "You scared me good, Clint," she says, and kisses him again.

He's too tired for his smile to light his face the way it usually does, but it's in his eyes, and he answers, "Good thing us Bartons are strong."

She knows he means her, too, and she'll take the confidence he's trying to give her. She'll take it and stand up and help him heal, but she tucks a thought back into her heart: the thought that she'll need to heal when he's hurt like this, too, that _family_ means that blows land on all of them when they land on one.

They'll heal together, like a normal, healthy family, and they'll also do it like Bartons, who are tough bastards.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still a C/C person, btw. A new one of those is coming very soon. I just have major Clint/Laura feels as well...and Laura needs a chance to be here as well, IMO.
> 
> Also, I might've originally titled this "Do It Like Bartons," but I just could not bring myself to leave that be.


End file.
